Interactive two-way collaboration in process control plants

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of transmitting process control information to a portable communication device associate a resource link with the process control information and transmit the process control information and the resource link to the portable communication device. A session identifier is associated with the process control information and the session identifier and the resource link are transmitted to the portable communication device. A message and the resource link associated with the process control information are provided at the portable communication device. A user selects the resource link to initiate a communication link between the portable communication device and a wireless communication service. The portable communication device may receive one of video information, audio information, still image information, and software application information in response to initiation of the communication link between the wireless communication service and the portable communication device.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0001] The present invention relates generally to process controlsystems and, more specifically, to interactive two-way collaboration inprocess control plants.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Process control systems, like those used in chemical, petroleumor other processes, typically include one or more centralized processcontrollers communicatively coupled to at least one host or operatorworkstation and to one or more field devices via analog, digital orcombined analog/digital buses. The field devices, which may be, forexample valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g.,temperature, pressure and flow rate sensors), perform functions withinthe process such as opening or closing valves and measuring processparameters. The process controller receives signals indicative ofprocess measurements made by the field devices and/or other informationpertaining to the field devices, uses this information to implement acontrol routine and then generates control signals that are sent overthe buses or other communication lines to the field devices to controlthe operation of the process. Information from the field devices and thecontrollers may be made available to one or more applications executedby the operator workstation to enable an operator to perform desiredfunctions with respect to the process, such as viewing the current stateof the process, modifying the operation of the process, etc.

[0003] Typically, a process control system operates within a businessenterprise that may include several process control plants, componentand/or service suppliers and customers, all of which may be distributedthroughout a large geographic area or, in some cases, throughout theworld. The process control plants, suppliers and customers maycommunicate with each other using a variety of communication media andtechnologies or platforms such as, for example, the Internet, satellitelinks, ground-based wireless transmissions, telephone lines, etc.

[0004] Of course, the Internet has become a preferred communicationplatform for many business enterprises because it provides anestablished communications infrastructure, which tends to minimize thecommunication infrastructure costs for an enterprise. Additionally, thetechnologies used to communicate information via the Internet arewell-understood, stable, secure, etc. Further, the increased geographicdistribution of typical enterprises in combination with the increaseddegree of automation and, as a result, the need to have fewer moreproductive or efficient employees, has resulted in the development andproliferation of highly-portable, full-featured communication platforms.For example, personal data assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones,pagers, notepads, tablets, laptop computers, wearable computers andother communication platforms and devices (many of which are currentlyavailable as web-enabled devices) are currently used to leverageemployees throughout large business enterprises, many of which aredistributed across large geographic areas.

[0005] The proliferation of portable communication platforms and deviceshas been accompanied by the development and proliferation of improvedoperating systems such as, for example, Windows XP®, Microsoft.NET™,etc. and communication protocol improvements such as, for example,Ethernet, voice over Internet protocol (IP), streaming video, etc. Inaddition, improved information or data transfer and central data storagedevices and techniques such as those provided by, for example,extensible markup language (XML), simple object access protocol (SOAP),universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI), etc., improvedorchestration systems or servers such as, for example, Biztalk, improvedprogramming languages that are execution platform insensitive such as,for example, Java, and a host of other improved communication and/ordata management tools, standards, protocols, programming languages, etc.have developed along with the proliferation of portable communicationplatforms. Most, if not all, of these communication and/or datamanagement tools are currently used in conjunction with wirelesscommunications, particularly in situations where the communicationand/or data management tools are operating, at least in part, inconjunction with one or more portable communication devices.

[0006] Each process control plant within an enterprise may include oneor more process control systems as well as a number of otherbusiness-related or information technology systems that are needed tosupport or maintain, or that are complementary to, the overall operationof the process control systems. In general, the information technologysystems associated with a process control plant may includemanufacturing execution systems such as, for example, a maintenancemanagement system and may also include enterprise resource planningsystems such as, for example, scheduling, accounting and procurementsystems. Although these information technology systems may be physicallylocated within or near a plant, in some cases a few, or possibly all, ofthese systems may be remotely located with respect to the plant and maycommunicate with the plant using the Internet or any other suitablecommunication link using any desired combination of wireless and/orhardwired communication media and techniques.

[0007] Each process control plant within an enterprise may also includeuser-interactive applications that may be executed on a server orworkstation that is communicatively coupled to one or more servers,workstations, or other computers that coordinate or perform theactivities of the process control system within the plant. Suchuser-interactive applications may perform campaign management functions,historical data management functions, asset management functions, batchmanagement functions, etc. In addition, each of the process controlsystems may include process management applications that may, forexample, manage the communications of and provide information relatingto alarm and/or other process events, provide information or datarelating to the condition of the process or processes performed by theprocess control plant, provide information or data relating to thecondition or performance of equipment associated with the processcontrol plant, etc. In particular, process management applications mayinclude vibration monitoring applications, real-time optimizationapplications, expert system applications, predictive maintenanceapplications, control loop monitoring applications, or any otherapplications related to controlling, monitoring and/or maintaining aprocess control system or plant.

[0008] Still further, a process control plant or enterprise may includeone or more communication applications that may be used to communicateinformation from the process control system or plant to a user via avariety of different communication media and platforms. For example,these communication applications may include e-mail applications, pagingapplications, voice messaging applications, file-based applications,etc., all of which may send information via wireless or hardwired mediato a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal data assistant, acellular phone or pager, or any other type of device or hardwareplatform.

[0009] Paging applications are often used to convey process controlalarm or alert information to portable communication devices, such ascellular pagers, cellular telephones, PDAs and laptops equipped with acellular or other wireless communication interface, etc. Generallyspeaking, alarm or alert information is usually generated by a processcontrol system and conveyed to one or more persons (via their portablecommunication device or devices) associated with the operation of theprocess control system in response to the occurrence and detection ofcertain event conditions within the process control system. For example,an impending or actual failure of a field device, an out-of-range loopparameter or other control parameter, etc. may result in the generationand conveyance of an alert or alarm to a field technician, plantoperator, and/or any other person associated with the affected processcontrol system.

[0010] With known alarm or alert paging systems, process control systemusers or operators typically interface with a configuration tool, whichmay provide an intuitive graphical user interface or the like, thatenables definition of events or conditions that will result in thereporting of one or more alarms, alerts or other conditions to one ormore users. In addition, during configuration, a system user or operatormay use the configuration tool to define the personnel who receivecertain alarm or alert information and in what manners the alarminformation should be delivered to the personnel receiving the alarminformation. In particular, the system user or operator can typicallydefine alarm routing procedures that are based on simple static routingschedules or, if desired, based on one or more rules, which may vary therouting of an alarm or alert based on the type and/or severity of thealarm or alert, the identity of the person or persons to whom the alarmor alert is to be conveyed, the time of day or current work shift, orany other desired parameter or combination of parameters.

[0011] Of course, a single event or condition within a process controlplant may trigger multiple alarm or alert messages, some or all of whichmay be conveyed to a particular person or to a particular group ofindividuals via a paging system. Further, in some cases, a single alarmor alert may be communicated to one or more individuals via more thanone communication link and receiving device. For example, an alarm maybe transmitted via a paging system to a cellular pager and a cellularphone that are both associated with a particular person.

[0012] Many paging systems are one-way systems in which alarm or alertinformation is conveyed via a cellular pager or phone. In one-waysystems, the pager or phone receiving the message can, in some cases,display a simple textual message that provides the user with importantinformation about the alarm or alert. For example, the message maycontain location information (i.e., a physical location within a processplant), information that identifies a particular affected field deviceor unit, control loop parameters, etc. associated with the alert oralarm. However, one-way systems do not enable the user to respond to analarm or alert received via the pager or phone using the phone or pagerkeypad. Instead, these one-way systems require the user to physicallytravel to a location within the plant associated with the alert oralarm, to place a phone call to another person that can travel to thelocation and/or to log onto a network coupled to the process controlplant via a laptop or remote user terminal to provide a response to thealarm or alert to the process control system that generated the alarm oralert.

[0013] Some existing paging systems enable limited two-way communicationbetween a portable communication device (e.g., a pager, cellular phone,PDA, etc.) and a process control system. These two-way systems typicallysend an enumerated menu of possible responses along with alarm or alertmessages to the portable communication device. When the user receives analarm or alert via their portable communication device, the informationpertaining to the alarm or alert (i.e., an alarm or alert message) istypically displayed along with a limited menu of possible responsesassociated with that alarm or alert. To respond to the alert or alarm,the user may invoke one or more of the possible responses by enteringthe numbers or digits via a keypad on the communication device thatcorrespond to the desired response or responses.

[0014] With most two-way paging systems, responses to alerts or alarmsmade via a portable communication device are returned to the processcontrol system that issued the alert or alarm via standard pagingcommunication systems and are typically in the form of a simple textualreply message (e.g., in the form of an ASCII string) and/or a numericvalue. In the case of a textual reply message, the reply message istypically displayed to one or more system operators, who may, ifnecessary, respond to the message by taking some action. In the case ofa numeric value, the numeric value may be automatically used by theprocess control system by, for example, writing the value to a controlstrategy to automatically invoke an appropriate response.

[0015] Unfortunately, existing two-way paging systems are very limitedin their capabilities and flexibility. In particular, existing two-waypaging systems provide very limited monitoring functions that typicallyonly enable the monitoring of conditions or events within a particularprocess control system. Accordingly, existing two-way paging systemstypically do not enable the monitoring of conditions and events on anenterprise-wide basis. In addition, alert or alarm information conveyedby existing two-way paging systems is typically limited to simpletextual information, thereby significantly limiting the ability of afield technician, system operator, or any other person associated withthe process control system to diagnose, troubleshoot and/or effect acorrection in response to the alert or alarm. For example, diagnosing afailed field device or a problematic control loop may require graphicalinformation, image information, or information that is more complex thana simple text message. Still further, with existing two-way pagingsystems, responses sent by the portable communication devices (e.g.,pagers, cell phones, etc.) are typically limited to simple text messagesand/or simple numeric values, thereby significantly limiting the abilityof the person responding to an alert or alarm to effect an appropriatecorrection from a remote location.

SUMMARY

[0016] In accordance with one aspect, a system and method oftransmitting process control information to a portable communicationdevice may associate a resource link with the process controlinformation and transmit the process control information and theresource link to the portable communication device. In addition, thesystem and method may associate a session identifier with the processcontrol information and the resource link and transmit the sessionidentifier to the portable communication device.

[0017] In accordance with another aspect, a method of responding toprocess control information received at a portable communication devicemay display a message associated with the process control informationand a resource link associated with the process control information,select the resource link and initiate a communication link between theportable communication device and a wireless communication service inresponse to selection of the resource link. The method may also receiveone of video information, audio information, still image information,and software application information in response to initiation of thecommunication link between the wireless communication service and theportable communication device.

[0018] In yet another aspect, a communications server may include acommunications interface and a communications collaboration unit that isadapted to send process control information received via thecommunications interface and a resource link associated with the processcontrol information to a portable communication device. In someexamples, the communications collaboration unit may be further adaptedto send the process control information received via the communicationsinterface together with a session identifier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example enterprise within whichthe interactive collaboration apparatus and methods described herein maybe used;

[0020]FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of an example manner inwhich the communication server shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented;

[0021]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example manner in which theapparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be configured to carry out themethods described herein;

[0022]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of an example manner in whichapparatus and methods described herein may be used to establishcommunications between users within the enterprise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example enterprise 10 within whichthe interactive collaboration apparatus and methods described herein maybe used. As shown in FIG. 1, the enterprise 10 includes a processcontrol system 12 that is communicatively coupled to a wirelesscommunication service 14 (e.g., a paging service, a cellular phoneservice, etc.) via communication links 16, 18 and 20. In addition, thewireless communication service 14 can communicate with a plurality ofwireless communication devices (e.g., cellular pagers, phones, PDAs,laptop computers, wearable computers, etc.) 22, 24 and 26 via one ormore wireless communication links 28 and 30.

[0024] In general, the process control system 12 generates alert oralarm information in response to the detection of certain predeterminedconditions within the process control system 12. The generated alert oralarm information may be conveyed or otherwise routed to the wirelesscommunication service 14 via one or more of the communication links 16,18 and 20 and, in turn, sent by the wireless communication service 14 toone or more of the wireless communication devices 22, 24 and 26 via oneor more of the wireless communication links 28 and 30.

[0025] The alert or alarm information conveyed by the process controlsystem 12 to the communication devices 22-26 may include textualinformation descriptive of the alerts or alarms such as, for example,the device, unit, process control loop parameter, etc. affected byand/or which generated the condition associated with the alert or alarm,the type of the alarm, the severity of the alarm, etc. In addition to atextual message, the alert or alarm information conveyed to thecommunication devices 22-26 includes one or more communication,information or resource links such as, for example, uniform resourcelocators (URLs). As described in greater detail below, the resourcelinks may be selected by a user of a wireless communication device (suchas one of the communication devices 22-26) receiving the alert or alarminformation to establish an interactive or collaborative two-waycommunication session with the process control system 12 or, moregenerally, any other device or system within the enterprise 10 that iscommunicatively coupled to the communications server 34. In particular,a communication, information or resource link associated with alert oralarm information may be selected by a user of a wireless communicationdevice receiving the alert or alarm information to invoke thetransmission of information associated with the alert or alarm to thatcommunication device and/or to other communication devices associatedwith the process control plant or system 12. For example, a particularURL received by one or more of the wireless communication devices 22-26in connection with an alert or alarm may be associated with orcorrespond to streaming video information, audio information, a liveoperator display, documents, etc. stored within a database associatedwith the process control system 12. The information or datacorresponding to the URL may be conveyed to one or more of thecommunication devices 22-26 in response to selection of the URL by auser of the communication device that received the URL.

[0026] The alert or alarm information conveyed to the communicationdevices 22-26 may also include event collaboration or sessionidentifiers, which may be composed of numeric, alphanumeric, or anyother indicia that, as described in greater detail below, may be used tolog or track communication events or collaborative, two-waycommunication sessions between one or more of the communication devices22-26 and the process control system 12. More specifically, thesesession identifiers function as collaboration session identifiers thatenable the communication transactions that occur between thecommunication devices 22-26, the process control system 12, or any othersystems or devices associated with the enterprise 10 to be uniquely ordistinctively associated with a particular alert or alarm. In thismanner, a log or audit trail containing all communications associatedwith each alert or alarm condition can be stored in a database and laterretrieved for review and analysis. Additionally, the session identifiersmay be used to filter communications (at the communication devices 22-26and/or the communications server 34) and/or to provide securityfunctions.

[0027] As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the process control system 12includes a controller 32, a communications server 34, a maintenancestation 36 and an operator station 38, all of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus or local area network (LAN) 40. Thecommunications server 34, the maintenance station 36 and the operatorstation 38 may be implemented using one or more workstations or anyother suitable computer systems or processing units. In addition, theLAN 40 may be implemented using any desired communication medium andprotocol. For example, the LAN may be based on a hardwired or wirelessEthernet communication scheme, which is well known and, thus, is notdescribed in greater detail herein. However, as will be readilyappreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, any othersuitable communication medium and protocol could be used.

[0028] The controller 32 may be coupled to a plurality of smart fielddevices 42, 44 and 46 via a digital data bus 48 and an input/output(I/O) device 50. The smart field devices 42-46 may be Fieldbus compliantvalves, actuators, sensors, etc., in which case the smart field devices42-46 communicate via the digital data bus 48 using the well-knownFieldbus protocol. Of course, other types of smart field devices andcommunication protocols could be used instead. For example, the smartfield devices 42-46 could instead be Profibus or HART compliant devicesthat communicate via the data bus 48 using the well known Profibus andHART communication protocols. Additional I/O devices (similar oridentical to the I/O device 50) may be coupled to the controller 32 toenable additional groups of smart field devices, which may be Fieldbusdevices, HART devices, etc., to communicate with the controller 32.

[0029] In addition to the smart field devices 42-46, one or morenon-smart field devices 52 and 54 may be communicatively coupled to thecontroller 32. The field devices 52 and 54 may be, for example,conventional 4-20 milliamp (mA) or 0-10 volts direct current (VDC)devices that communicate with the controller 32 via respective hardwiredlinks 56 and 58.

[0030] The controller 32 may be, for example, a DeltaV™ controller soldby Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc. However, any other controller could beused instead. Further, while only one controller in shown in FIG. 1,additional controllers of any desired type or combination of types couldbe coupled to the LAN 40. In any case, the controller 32 may perform oneor more process control routines associated with the process controlsystem 12 that have been generated by a system engineer or other systemoperator using the operator station 38 and which have been downloaded toand instantiated in the controller 32. The process control routinesinstantiated within the controller 32 preferably include alarm or alertgeneration routines that generate alarm or alert messages based on thedetection of certain conditions within the process control system 12.For example, a condition or event detected by one or more of the fielddevices 42-46 and 52-54 may trigger the generation of an alert or alarmwithin the controller 32 based on configuration information that mayhave been downloaded to the controller 32 by a system user or operatorvia, for example, the operator station 38. Similarly, the controller 32may detect a condition associated with a control loop such as, forexample, an out-of-range or excessively variable loop parameter, thattriggers the generation of an alert or alarm message by the controller32. Alternatively or additionally, routines executed within aworkstation or computer system (e.g., the operator station 38, thecommunications server 34, etc.) coupled to the LAN 40 may generatealerts or alarms based on information received from the controller 32via the LAN 40.

[0031] In any case, the communications server 34 is configured toreceive alarm or alert messages generated by the controller 32, theoperator station 38, the maintenance station 36 and/or any otherworkstation, controller, etc. coupled to the LAN 40. As described ingreater detail in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3 herein, thecommunications server 34 monitors alert or alarm messages generatedwithin the process control system 12 and, based on configurationinformation, conveys some or all of these alert or alarm messages to oneor more of the communication devices 22-26 via the wirelesscommunication service 14.

[0032] In one example, the communications server 34 is a two-way pagerserver, the communication links 16 and 18 are phone lines, the network60 is the Internet, the wireless communication service 14 includes apaging service and the communication devices 22-26 are cellularcommunication devices such as phones, pagers, PDAs, laptop computers,tablets, etc. having cellular communication interfaces. In this example,the communications server 34, the wireless communication service 14 andone or more of the communication devices 22-26 may use a digitalcellular mobile communications protocol such as, for example, thewell-known global system for mobile communications (GSM), which is anarrowband time division multiple access scheme, short message service(SMS), and/or any other desired wireless communications scheme orcombination of schemes and/or protocols.

[0033] As depicted in the example shown in FIG. 1, the communicationlinks 16 and 18 may be communicatively coupled via a network 60. In someexamples, the communication links 16 and 18 may be hardwired links suchas, for example, phone lines and the network 60 may be the Internet orany other similar packet-switched network. In the case where thecommunication links 16 and 18 are hardwired links such as phone lines,the links are preferably digital subscriber lines (DSLs) or similarhardwired signal lines providing suitably high data transmission rates.Coupling the communication links 16 and 18 via the packet-switchednetwork (e.g., the Internet) 60 facilitates communications betweenprocess control system 12 and geographically remote and widelydistributed communication devices because the infrastructure forpacket-switched networks such as the Internet is established,inexpensive and is essentially ubiquitous. If desired, the communicationlinks 16 and 18 could instead be communicatively coupled via a hardwiredswitched network such as, for example, a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), a wireless communication system such as, for example, acellular communication system, a satellite communication system, etc. Toimprove communications security via the network 60, a virtual privatenetwork may be employed for communications between the communicationdevices 22-26 and the communications server 34.

[0034] The controller 32 may, if desired, communicate with the wirelesscommunication service 14 via the communication link 20, which may beimplemented using any desired hardwired or wireless link. The controller32 may send and receive information, including alarm or alertinformation, command or control information, etc. to and from thewireless communication device 14 and the communication devices 22-26 viathe link 20. In some examples, the link 20 may provide an inherentlysecure communication path for communicating certain or, if desired, allinformation between the communication devices 22-26 and the processcontrol system 12. As with the communication links 16 and 18, anydesired communication protocol or scheme may be used to conveyinformation through the link 20, including, for example, GSM, SMS, etc.

[0035] The alert or alarm messages sent by the communications server 34and/or the controller 32 to one or more of the communication devices22-26 via the wireless communication service 14 may include textualinformation associated with the alert or alarm information and aresource link (e.g., a URL). The textual information and the resourcelink may be displayed on one or more of the communication devices 22-26to one or more users associated with those devices. In some cases, asingle user may be associated with (e.g., may have in their possession)more than one of the communication devices 22-26. In other cases, eachof the communication devices 22-26 may be uniquely associated with aparticular person. In any case, in response to receipt of textualinformation associated with an alert or alarm at one of thecommunication devices 22-26, a user may select a resource link (e.g., aURL) associated with that alert or alarm to establish a communicationlink or session with the communications server 34 (e.g., via the links16 and 18 and the network 60) and/or the controller 32 (e.g., via thelink 20).

[0036] Each resource link within an alert or alarm displayed on one ormore of the communication devices 22-26 may be associated withadditional information stored within or otherwise accessible by thecommunications server 34. For example, a resource link may be associatedwith a document, streaming video information, a live operator display,audio information, or any other desired information associated with itscorresponding alert or alarm. By selecting or otherwise invoking theresource link and establishing a communication link between one of thecommunication devices 22-26 and the communications server 34, thecommunications server 34 may responsively transmit the informationassociated with the resource link to the one of the communicationdevices 22-26 for viewing, manipulation, further processing, etc. by theuser. For example, an alarm message indicating that the field device 42has failed may be communicated by the controller 32 to thecommunications server 34. The communications server 34 may determine,based on its configuration information, that such an alarm message is tobe conveyed to the communication device 22, which may be uniquelyassociated with a particular plant engineer. The communications server34 may, for example, send the alarm message in the form of a page orphone message via the links 16 and 18, the network 60, the wirelesscommunication service 14 and one of the links 28 and 30 to thecommunication device 22. Upon receiving the page or phone messagecontaining the alarm message, the communication device 22 may displaytextual information, if provided, describing the alarm along with aresource link (e.g., a URL). The plant engineer may view the textualinformation and may select the resource link to establish acommunication link back to the process control system 12 via thecommunications server 34. The communications server 34 may associate theselected resource link with information pertaining to the alarm such as,for example, documentary information, video information includingstreaming video and live operator displays, software applications suchas an operator interface application associated with the process controlsystem 12, etc. and may download or otherwise transmit some or all ofthe associated information to the communication device 22 via the links16 and 18, the network 60 and the wireless communication service 14using the established communication link. The information downloaded orotherwise provided to the communication device 22 may contain one ormore additional resource links to additional information pertaining tothe alarm and/or to the downloaded information, thereby enabling theuser to select additional resource links to receive further information,establish communications with other resources within or external to theprocess control system 12 and/or the enterprise 10, etc.

[0037] In addition to textual information and a resource link, the pagecontaining the alarm message may also include an identifier uniquelyassociated with the event or alarm. The session identifier may be usedas a tag for all subsequent communications related to that alarm,thereby facilitating the generation of an audit trail for that alarm.More generally, session identifiers for each alert or alarm may be usedto generate an operator's log that contains an audit trail or eventhistory for each alarm generated and transmitted by the communicationsserver 34 to the communication devices 22-26. Because the communicationsserver 34 and the communication devices 22-26 associate the sessionidentifier for a given alert or alarm with any subsequent communicationsor collaboration relating to that alert or alarm, the communicationsserver 34 can generate a complete operator's log or audit trail for eachalarm event.

[0038] The session identifiers for the alerts or alarms may also be usedto filter and/or prioritize responses received from the communicationdevices 22-26. For example, the communications server 34 may beconfigured to give a higher priority and, thus, respond first toresponses received from particular ones of the communication devices22-26. In some cases, the communications server 34 may be configured touse session identifiers to ignore responses (and other messages orinformation) received from communication devices that are not currentlyauthorized to respond. In this manner, the communications server 34 maybe used to provide a more secure operating environment by limiting itsactions based on responses to a few known, authorized persons and/orcommunication devices. Of course, the communication devices 22-26 mayalso use the session identifiers to filter messages, prioritizemessages, provide security, etc.

[0039] While the pages, phone messages, etc. containing alarm or alertinformation are described above as containing simple textual informationpertaining to the alert or alarm, more complex graphical, audio and/orvideo information could be included, if desired. Furthermore, more thanone resource link could be provided with each alarm or alert messagedisplayed via the communication devices 22-26, thereby enabling the userto establish communications with more than one information source orresource (i.e., resources in addition to or different from thecommunications server 34). Still further, because the resource links canbe URLs or the like, the communication devices 22-26 can establishcommunications with any information source or resource that is coupledto the network 60 and/or the LAN 40. As a result, information sources orresources (e.g., web sites, applications executed on web servers, etc.)that are external to the process control system 12 and/or the enterprise10 may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the communicationdevices 22-26 and/or the communications server 34. Likewise, alerts oralarms generated outside of the process control system 12 or theenterprise 10, can send a page, phone message, etc. containing alarm oralert information to the communication devices 22-26 using any desiredpaging or phone messaging service, which may be part of the wirelesscommunication service 14, or which may be part of some other wirelesscommunication service not shown in FIG. 1.

[0040] Although the enterprise 10 shown in FIG. 1 depicts a singleprocess control system 12 coupled to the wireless communication service14, the enterprise 10 could contain additional process control systems,each of which may be coupled to the wireless communication service 14via the network 60 using communication links similar or identical to thelinks 16 and 18 and/or using one or more links similar or identical tothe link 20. Additionally, the functions of the communications server 34described in general above and in greater detail below may be performedwithin a single workstation or computer system as depicted in FIG. 1 or,alternatively, may be distributed among a plurality of processing orcomputer systems, including, for example, the maintenance station 36,the operator station 38 or any other workstation or computer systemcoupled to the LAN 40 and/or the network 60.

[0041] The enterprise 10 may also include a plurality of auxiliarydevices 62 and 64, one or more of which may be coupled to one of more ofthe communication devices 22-26. The auxiliary devices 62 and 64 mayinclude digital cameras, digital video equipment, telephones, etc. thatenable a user to form or augment an appropriate response to a pagecontaining an alert or alarm. For example, in the case where a userreceives a page containing an alarm via a PDA, the user may want tocouple a telephone to the PDA to enable the generation of an audioresponse or message to be conveyed to the communications server 34.

[0042]FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of an example manner inwhich the communications server 34 shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented.As shown in FIG. 2, the communications server 34 includes acommunications interface 100, a rules engine 102, a processing unit 104,a database 106, which may be maintained in a memory (not shown), and acommunications collaboration unit 108.

[0043] The communications interface 100 may include, for example, amodem in the case where the communication link 16 is a DSL or phone lineand also includes an Ethernet adapter or other suitable communicationcircuitry to enable the communications server 34 to communicate via theLAN 40. The communications interface 100 may also include a transportcontrol protocol (TCP) stack that enables the communications server 34to encapsulate messages such as, for example, alarm or alert messages,video information, audio information, still image information, etc.,using Internet protocol (IP) into packets for transmission via thecommunication link 16 and the packet-switched network 60 to the wirelesscommunication service 14. As is known, IP encapsulated packets contain aheader that specifies the destination address for the packets. Inaddition, the TCP stack enables the communications server 34 to receiveIP packets sent to the communications server 34 via the network 60 fromone or more of the communication devices 22-26 and the wirelesscommunication service 14. As is known, the TCP stack enables messagecontent (e.g., video information, audio information, etc.) to beseparated from the encapsulation layers of the protocol. If desired, thecommunications interface 100 may also include encryption and decryptionmechanisms that enable secure communications between the communicationdevices 22-26 and the process control system 12.

[0044] The rules engine 102 determines how alarms and alerts are to berouted to the communication devices 22-26 (e.g., pagers, cell phones,PDAs, laptops, etc.) associated with various plant personnel and/orentities affected by the operations of the enterprise 10. For example,based on the type and/or severity of a particular alert or alarm, thetime of day, etc., the rules engine 102 may filter (i.e., decide toroute or not to route) that alarm or alert to any communication device,may decide to route that particular alert or alarm to a particularperson via a particular communication device associated with thatperson, or may decide to route that particular alarm to a group or listof communication devices, which may include any combination of devicetypes (e.g., pagers, cell phones, PDAs, laptops, etc.), associated witha group of people. If desired, the rules engine 102 may monitor andlimit the number and/or frequency of pages generated in response to aparticular alarm or alert to prevent excessive paging or other messaging(i.e., paging red-out).

[0045] The processing unit 104 may be any known or suitablemicroprocessor, microcontroller, ASIC, etc. that can executeinstructions or data stored on a memory (not shown) to carry out themethods described herein. Preferably, but not necessarily, theprocessing unit 104 coordinates the flow of data between thecommunications interface 100, the rules engine 102, the database 106 andthe communications collaboration unit 108. In addition, processing unit104 may be used to perform mathematical calculations as needed by theactivities of the communications interface 100, the rules engine 102 andthe communications collaboration unit 108. While a single processingunit 104 is shown in FIG. 2, multiple processing units could be usedinstead.

[0046] The database 106 contains information pertaining to alerts oralarms including an audit trail or operator's log for alerts or alarms.The database 106 may include a non-volatile memory such as an optical ormagnetic disk drive, magnetic tape, etc. and/or may include a volatilememory with or without a battery backup. More specifically, the database106 may contain detected conditions, documents pertaining to alerts oralarms, audio information, video information, still image information,etc., all of which may be pertinent to one or more of the alerts oralarms that are processed by the communications server 34 and which maybe conveyed to one or more of the communication devices 22-26. Thedatabase 106 may also contain a list of users that are currently loggedon to the communications server 34 and/or more generally the processcontrol system 12 or enterprise 10, lists of other possible users (someof which may not be logged on), paging numbers, phone numbers, etc. thatmay be used by the communications server 34 in carrying out itscommunications routing or management activities.

[0047] The communications collaboration unit 108 manages or coordinatescommunications between the communications server 34, the communicationdevices 22-26, and any other systems or devices that are communicativelycoupled to the process control system 12, the network 60 and/or thewireless communications service 14. In general, the communicationscollaboration unit 108 receives alarm or alert information, generatespages, e-mails, phone messages, etc. containing that alarm or alertinformation (assuming the rules engine 102 does not prevent thetransmission of the alert of alarm information), generates resourcelinks for those pages, e-mails, phone messages, etc. that may beassociated with information (i.e., linked to information) in thedatabase 106 that may be useful to those receiving the alert or alarminformation, generates unique session identifiers for each alarm oralert event and creates and maintains an operator's log or audit trailfor the events (e.g., alarms or alerts) conveyed through thecommunications server 34 to one or more of the communication devices22-26 in the database 106. The audit trail or operator's log may beconfigured so that interactive collaborations such as, for example, aseries of pages or other communications between one or more entities orusers relating to a particular alarm or alert event and, thus, aparticular session identifier.

[0048] The functional blocks 100-108 shown in the example communicationsserver 34 of FIG. 2 may be implemented using any desired combination ofsoftware, firmware and hardware. For example, one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), etc. may access instructions or data stored on machineor processor accessible storage media to carry out the methods describedherein. The storage media may include any combination of devices and/ormedia such as, for example, solid state storage media including randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc., optical storage media,magnetic storage media, etc. In addition, software used to implement thefunctional blocks 100-108 may additionally or alternatively be deliveredto and accessed by the processor or other device or devices executingthe software via the Internet, telephone lines, satellitecommunications, etc.

[0049]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example manner in which theapparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be configured to carry out themethods described herein. As shown in FIG. 3, the communicationscollaboration unit 108 of the communications server 34 includes an eventreceiver 200, an event transmitter 202 and an event monitor 204. Theevent monitor 204 is coupled to the database 106 of the communicationsserver 34 and to a plurality of process management, control, andenterprise management systems 208 and 210. The systems 208 and 210 mayinclude, for example, one or more process control systems (e.g., theprocess control system 12) that may provide information pertaining toprocess control parameters, loops, etc., device information such as, forexample, device health, status, conditions, etc., equipment information,etc. to the event monitor 204 in the form of alert or alarm information.The systems 208 and 210 may also include maintenance systems (e.g., themaintenance station 36), engineering systems, business managementsystems, etc. As is also shown in FIG. 3, the event receiver 200 and theevent transmitter 202 are communicatively coupled to the communicationdevices 206, which may include one or more of the devices 22-26 shown inFIG. 1.

[0050] In operation, the event monitor 204 may receive an alert or alarmmessage from one of the systems 208 and 210 via the communicationsinterface 100 and the rules engine 102 of the communications server 34as shown in FIG. 2. The event monitor 204 may then generate a sessionidentifier for the alert or alarm message and may store this sessionidentifier in the database 106. The event monitor 204 also associatesone or more resource links with the alarm or alert message so thatinformation pertinent to that alarm or alert message stored in thedatabase 106, or which is available at some other location accessible bythe communication devices 206, can be linked to the alarm or alertmessage. The event monitor 204 may also associate a textual message,which may be provided with the alert or alarm message by one of thesystems 208 and 210 or retrieved from the database 106, with the alertor alarm message. The event monitor 204 then sends the alarm or alertmessage together with its associated textual message, session identifierand resource link or links to the event transmitter 202. The eventtransmitter 202 conveys all of the information pertaining to the alarmor alert message to one or more of the communication devices 206 in theform of a page, a phone message (e.g., GSM/SMS), an e-mail, etc. Theevent monitor 204 also sends a copy of the alert or alarm message,including its session identifier, resource links, etc. to the database106 for inclusion in an audit trail, event history, or operator's log,which is preferably, but not necessarily, organized using the uniquesession identifiers (i.e., all collaboration or communication activitiesassociated with a particular session identifier are stored sequentiallywithin the database 106).

[0051] Upon receiving an alert or alarm message, one of thecommunication devices 206 may display the textual message associatedwith the alert or alarm along with its associated resource link orlinks. The user of a communication device receiving the alert or alarmmessage may, if desired, respond to the message by selecting one of theresource links to establish a communication link to, for example, thecommunications server 34. The responsive message may be sent from thecommunication device to the communications server 34 via the wirelesscommunication service 14. The responsive message preferably includes acopy of the session identifier. The event receiver 200 receives theresponsive message and stores a copy of the responsive message in thedatabase 106. The responsive message is stored in sequence in the audittrail or operator's log in historical sequence with other messageshaving the same session identifier. In addition, the communicationscollaboration unit 108 may retrieve information associated with theresource link (e.g., video information, audio information, still imageinformation, etc.) from the database 106 and may send this information(i.e., download this information) to the responsive communication devicevia the established communication link. The communication devices 206may, if desired, utilize web browser software, for example, so that whena resource link such as a URL is selected, a two-way communicationsconnection can be easily established between that communications deviceand the communications server 34. However, other communication softwarecould be used instead.

[0052]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of an example manner in whichapparatus and methods described herein may be used to quickly establishtwo-way communications with users that are logged on to thecommunications server 34. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of operationinterface stations 300 and 302 may be communicatively coupled via anetwork 304 to the communications server 34. In addition, a plurality ofcommunication devices 306 and 308 may be communicatively coupled to thecommunications server 34 via wireless communication links 310 and 312.

[0053] In operation, the communications server 34 maintains a list oflogged-on users in the database 106. The communications server 34 mayprovide the list of logged-on users to the operator interface stations300 and 302 which, in turn, may display the list of logged on users. Inthe example shown in FIG. 4, a person may be logged on thecommunications server 34 via any one or all of the communication devices306 and 308 and any or all the operator interfaces 300 and 302. Any ofthe users may view a list of currently logged-on users and may select,via a display and keypad, for example, one of the other logged-on usersto thereby establish a communication link with that other user. Thus,users at any of the communication devices 306 and 308 can establish acommunication link with each other or with one or more of the operatorstations 300 and 302. Likewise, users at the operator interfaces 300 and302 can establish a communication link with each other or with one ormore of the communication devices 306 and 308.

[0054] In examples where the network 304 includes a packet-switchednetwork, the communications server 34 may employ voice over IP,extensible markup language (XML), web service definition language(WSDL), simple object access protocol (SOAP) and/or UDDI to carry outthe communications in an efficient manner. Of course, the network 304may include hardwired phone lines (e.g., DSL), satellite links, cellularlinks, etc. in addition to or instead of the packet-switched network.

[0055] Thus, while the present invention has been described withreference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrativeonly and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletionsmay be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of transmitting process controlinformation to a portable communication device, comprising: associatinga resource link with the process control information; and transmittingthe process control information and the resource link to the portablecommunication device.
 2. The method of claim 1, further includingassociating a session identifier with the process control informationand the resource link and transmitting the session identifier to theportable communication device.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinassociating the session identifier with the process control informationand the resource link includes associating a session identifier with theprocess control information and the resource link.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, further including storing the process control information andthe session identifier in a database based on the session identifier. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein associating the resource link with theprocess control information includes associating a uniform resourcelocator with the process control information.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein associating the resource link with the process controlinformation includes associating the resource link with one of alert andalarm information.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting theresource link and the process control information to the portablecommunication device includes transmitting the resource link and theprocess control information to the portable communication device via apacket-switched network and a wireless communication service.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein transmitting the resource link and theprocess control information to the portable communication device via thepacket-switched network and the wireless communication service includestransmitting the resource link and the process control information usinga virtual private network.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereintransmitting the resource link and the process control information tothe portable communication device via the packet-switched network andthe wireless communication service includes transmitting the processcontrol information and the resource link via an internet and a cellularcommunications system.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein associatingthe resource link with the process control information further includesassociating one of image information, video information, audioinformation, and a software application with the process controlinformation.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the processcontrol information and the resource link to the portable communicationdevice includes transmitting the process control information and theresource link within one of a pager message, a phone message and ane-mail.
 12. The method of claim 1, further including transmitting one ofvideo information, audio information, still image information andsoftware application information to the portable communication device inresponse to a request by the portable communication device to access aresource associated with the resource link.
 13. The method of claim 1,further including generating the process control information within acontroller and transmitting the process control information to theportable communication device from the controller.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein transmitting the process control information from thecontroller includes transmitting the process control information via acommunication link that is dedicated for use by the controller.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, further including using a rules engine to filter theprocess control information prior to transmitting the process controlinformation and the resource link to the portable communication device.16. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the process controlinformation and the resource link to the portable communication deviceincludes transmitting the process control information and the resourcelink via a secure communication link.
 17. A system for transmittingprocess control information to a portable communication device,comprising: a communications server programmed to: associate a resourcelink with the process control information; and transmit the processcontrol information and the resource link to the portable communicationdevice.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the communications server isprogrammed to associate a session identifier with the process controlinformation and the resource link and transmit the session identifier tothe portable communication device.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinthe communications server is programmed to store the process controlinformation and the session identifier in a database based on thesession identifier.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein thecommunications server is programmed to associate the resource link withthe process control information by associating a uniform resourcelocator with the process control information.
 21. The system of claim17, wherein the communications server is programmed to associate theresource link with the process control information by associating theresource link with one of alert and alarm information.
 22. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the communications server is programmed to transmitthe resource link and the process control information to the portablecommunication device by transmitting the resource link and the processcontrol information via a packet-switched network and a wirelesscommunication service.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein thecommunications server is programmed to transmit the resource link andthe process control information to the portable communication device viathe packet-switched network and the wireless communication service usinga virtual private network.
 24. The system of claim 22, whereincommunications server is programmed to transmit the resource link andthe process control information to the portable communication device viathe packet-switched network and the wireless communication service bytransmitting the process control information and the resource link viaan internet and a cellular communications system.
 25. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the communications server is programmed to associatethe resource link with the process control information by associatingone of image information, video information, audio information, and asoftware application with the process control information.
 26. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the communications server is programmed totransmit the process control information and the resource link to theportable communication device by transmitting the process controlinformation and the resource link to the portable communication devicewithin one of a pager message, a phone message and an e-mail.
 27. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the communications server is programmed totransmit one of video information, audio information, still imageinformation and software application information to the portablecommunication device in response to a request by the portablecommunication device to access a resource associated with the resourcelink.
 28. The system of claim 17, wherein the communications server isprogrammed to use at least one rule prior to transmitting the processcontrol information and the resource link to the portable communicationdevice.
 29. The system of claim 17, wherein the communications server isprogrammed to use a secure communication link to transmit the processcontrol information and the resource link to the portable communicationlink.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the secure communication linkincludes a virtual private network.
 31. A machine accessible mediumhaving data stored thereon that, when accessed, causes a machine to:associate a resource link with process control information; and transmitthe process control information and the resource link to a portablecommunication device.
 32. The machine accessible medium of claim 31,wherein the data stored thereon, when accessed, causes the machine toassociate a session identifier with the process control information andthe resource link and transmit the session identifier to the portablecommunication device.
 33. The machine accessible medium of claim 31,wherein the data stored thereon, when accessed, causes the machine totransmit the resource link and the process control information to theportable communication device by transmitting the resource link and theprocess control information via a packet-switched network and a wirelesscommunication service.
 34. The machine accessible medium of claim 31,wherein the data stored thereon, when accessed, causes the machine totransmit the resource link and the process control information to theportable communication device via the packet-switched network and thewireless communication service by transmitting the process controlinformation and the resource link via an internet and a cellularcommunications system.
 35. The machine accessible medium of claim 31,wherein the data stored thereon, when accessed, causes the machine totransmit the process control information and the resource link to theportable communication device by transmitting the process controlinformation and the resource link within one of a pager message, a phonemessage and an e-mail.
 36. A method of responding to process controlinformation received at a portable communication device, comprising:displaying a message associated with the process control information anda resource link associated with the process control information;selecting the resource link; and initiating a communication link betweenthe portable communication device and a wireless communication servicein response to selection of the resource link.
 37. The method of claim36, further including receiving one of video information, audioinformation, still image information, and software applicationinformation in response to initiation of the communication link betweenthe wireless communication service and the portable communicationdevice.
 38. The method of claim 36, further including receiving asession identifier with the process control information and sending thesession identifier to the wireless communication service when accessinga resource via the portable communication device.
 39. The method ofclaim 36, wherein displaying the message includes displaying one ofalert and alarm information.
 40. The method of claim 36, whereininitiating the communication link between the portable communicationdevice and the wireless communication service includes initiating aconnection to a communication server associated with an enterprise via apacket-switched network and a cellular communications system.
 41. Themethod of claim 36, wherein initiating the communication link betweenthe portable communication device and the wireless communication serviceincludes invoking the resource link within a web browser application.42. The method of claim 36, wherein displaying the message associatedwith the process control information includes displaying a textualmessage associated with one of an alarm and an alert generated by aprocess control system.
 43. The method of claim 36, further includingsending a message from the portable communication device to a controllervia the communication link.
 44. The method of claim 36, whereininitiating the communication link between the portable communicationdevice and the wireless communication service in response to selectionof the resource link includes establishing a voice over Internetprotocol communication link to form the communication link.
 45. Acommunications server, comprising: a communications interface; and acommunications collaboration unit that is adapted to send processcontrol information received via the communications interface and aresource link associated with the process control information to aportable communication device.
 46. The communications server of claim45, wherein the communications collaboration unit is further adapted tosend the process control information received via the communicationsinterface together with a session identifier.
 47. The communicationsserver of claim 46, further including a database containing a log ofcommunications between the communications server and the portablecommunication device, wherein the log of communications organizes theprocess control information using the session identifier.
 48. Thecommunications server of claim 45, wherein the communicationscollaboration unit is adapted to send the process control informationvia the communications interface to the portable communication device asone of a page, a phone message and an e-mail.
 49. The communicationsserver of claim 45, wherein the communications interface is adapted tocommunicate with a wireless communication service via one of a phoneline and a packet-switched network.
 50. The communications server ofclaim 49, wherein the communications interface includes one of a modemand an Ethernet interface.
 51. The communications server of claim 45,wherein the communications collaboration unit is adapted to establish acommunication link with the portable communication device in response toreceiving a communication associated with the resource link from theportable communication device.
 52. The communications server of claim51, wherein the communication link is a secure communication link. 53.The communications server of claim 52, wherein the secure communicationlink is a virtual private network.
 54. The communications server ofclaim 51, wherein the communications collaboration unit is furtheradapted to send one of video information, audio information and textualinformation associated with the process control information to theportable communication device via the communication link in response toreceiving the communication associated with the resource link.
 55. Thecommunications server of claim 45, further including a rules engine thatdetermines communications routing information for sending the processcontrol information to the portable communication device.
 56. A systemfor communicating process control information to a portablecommunication device, comprising: an event monitor communicativelycoupled to a process control system; a database coupled to the eventmonitor; an event receiver coupled to the event monitor; and an eventtransmitter coupled to the event monitor, wherein the event monitor isadapted to receive the process control information from the processcontrol system and to send a message containing a resource link toinformation stored in the database to the portable communication devicevia the event transmitter.
 57. The system of claim 56, wherein the eventtransmitter is adapted to send the message together with a sessionidentifier to the portable communication device.
 58. The system of claim56, wherein the portable communication device is one of a pager, acellular phone, a laptop computer and a personal data assistant.
 59. Thesystem of claim 56, wherein the event monitor maintains a log ofcommunications between the portable communication device and the eventmonitor.
 60. The system of claim 56, wherein the event transmitter isadapted to the send the message to the portable communication device asone of a page, a phone message and an e-mail.
 61. The system of claim56, wherein the event transmitter is adapted to send the message to theportable communication device via one of a phone line and apacket-switched network.
 62. The system of claim 56, wherein thedatabase includes one of video information, audio information, stillimage information and software application information associated withthe process control information.
 63. A method of generating an event logfor use with a process control system, comprising: generating a firstcommunication containing process control information, a resource linkassociated with the process control information and a sessionidentifier; storing a first log entry associated with the firstcommunication in a database based on the session identifier; sending thefirst communication to the portable communication device; receiving asecond communication associated with the resource link from the portablecommunication device in response to the first communication; and storinga second log entry associated with the second communication in thedatabase base on the session identifier.
 64. The method of claim 63,wherein generating the first communication includes generating a messagethat includes one of alert and alarm information associated with theprocess control system.
 65. The method of claim 63, wherein sending thefirst communication to the portable communication device includessending the first communication to the portable communication device viaone of a phone line, a packet-switched network and a wirelesscommunication service.
 66. The method of claim 63, wherein storing thefirst and second log entries in the database based on the sessionidentifier includes grouping the first and second log entries based onthe session identifier.
 67. A method of establishing a communicationlink between a portable communication device and a process controlsystem, comprising: displaying a resource link associated with thecommunication device on an operator interface associated with theprocess control system; selecting the resource link; and establishingthe communication link between the portable communication device and theoperator interface.
 68. The method of claim 67, wherein displaying theresource link associated with the communication device includesdisplaying a uniform resource locator.
 69. The method of claim 67,wherein establishing the communication link between the portablecommunication device and the operator interface includes establishingthe communication link using a wireless communication link and apacket-switched network.
 70. A method of establishing a communicationlink with a user sending a message within a process control system,comprising: receiving a message from the user at a display device;identifying a resource link associated with the user; selecting theresource link; and establishing the communication link in response tothe selection of the resource link.
 71. The method of claim 70, whereinidentifying the resource link associated with the user includesidentifying a uniform resource locator associated with the user.
 72. Themethod of claim 70, wherein establishing the communication link inresponse to the selection of the resource link includes establishing atwo-way communication link with the user.